Road Food - Tacos of Southern California

The Heavenly Taco Goodness of Los Tacos de Huicho

Today, we put the spotlight on one of the greatest fast foods in existence...

One real benefit to living in Southern California is all the really good, authentic ethnic food we have here.  From Chinese to Kosher delis, Japanese, Thai, and more.  One thing no one can miss is the saturating abundance of Mexican food we have around here.  For those of you who have seen our Napa Valley Part 1 video, you'll notice Tim called Los Tacos de Huicho the best tacos we've ever had...including Mexico (which is very true).  Here is my real-life scale of taco goodness, with 10 being best and 1 being worst.  Let's start at 1...

1 Tacos Puebla.  Pasadena, CA.  Bland meat.  Overcooked when it shouldn't be...undercooked when it should.  Awful tortillas that have an undercooked, doughy texture.

2 Tacos Don Chente.  El Monte, CA.  I'm gonna piss someone off with this one.  Pretty restaurant.  Clean, happy feeling place.  Good looking desserts.  I want it to be good...why can't I stand their tacos?

3 Tonny's.  Pasadena, CA.  Many people love this place.  It's just average to me.

4 Jack in the Box.  Nationwide.  They must put crack in those two-for-99cent tacos.  I don't know why we like them...but we do.

5 Taco King (not to be confused with #6).  Azusa, CA.  Another decent taco stand in the city.  Good, but just above average.

6 King Taco (not to be confused with #5).  Locations across the Los Angeles region.  The best taco chain.  Great carne asada, good al pastor, decent carnitas, and lame roasted chicken.  Their red sauce will make your lips feel like they're falling off.

7 Rudy's. Monrovia, CA. A sit down, full service restaurant. Most food it better than average but Rudy now has a large taco de tripas on the menu that's out of this world good.

8 Pepe's.  Alhambra, CA.  Nobody makes a hard-shell taco like Pepe's.  Just dripping with juicy goodness and layered with cheese, throw a dollop of their great sauce on and enjoy.

9 El Picoso.  Azusa, CA. (Similarly, almost related, is El Picosito in Duarte, CA) Tacos de papa.  I've tried many places and pretty much choke on these potato tacos.  Not here.  Delicious, fried pockets of tortilla filled with just the right amount of potato.  Also, pretty much the best tripas south of Bakersfield plus good enchiladas and rellenos make this place stand out.  Note:  Many of their best dishes...such as the tacos de papa...are not on the menu.  You just have to know they make them.

10 Los Tacos de Huicho.  Bakersfield, CA.  How to they do it?  I've been here dozens of times and it's always delicious.  Have worked my way about half-way through their menu and have yet to find anything that is not absolutely delicious.  Although everything is top-notch here, their specialty is al pastor.  One of the few places left that do it right, roasted on a vertical spit just oozing with juice.  Tripas...I realize some of you are put off of this offal meat...are crispy, tasty little critters in their delicious fried tortillas.  The creamy, bean and meat goodness of their sopes rest on a just crispy enough shell.  The fish tacos are fresh and will blow those of you who like Rubio's away.  They even make some of the best french fries we've ever had.  The salsa bar holds their perfect red and green salsas, plus the holy grail of salsadom...their spicy, creamy, guacamoloe salsa (see picture above).  The price of a taco here is only 99cents...everyday!  The only down side is their bar, which makes some pretty lackluster margaritas.

Darryl